Duterte says open to closer ties with China, Russia
26 Sep 2016 at 20:51 3,745 viewed7 comments
MANILA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he will seek closer ties with China and Russia as his government approaches a "point of no return" in its increasingly strained relationship with the United States.

instead of fighting a battle he can't win, form an alliance with them.

More hopefully share the benefits equally, of any "shared" resources exploited.

The war drums are being banged constantly. Political disagreements, financial disagreement, military disagreement and then, nowadays, a "colour revolution". If not successful with that, a proxy army are funded, trained, managed, fed, patched up....... by a willing, or not, vassal.

It appears Philippine credit ratings may need to be reduced. An Ameristani "credit rating agency" has suggested, allegedly.
The agencies that have been so accurate in the past.

"Speaking on Monday, Duterte also dismissed concerns expressed last week by the rating agency Standard and Poor's, which said the sluggish performance of the Philippines economy and Duterte's controversial remarks may prompt it to revise the country's rating.

"Never mind about the ratings," the president said. "I will open up the Philippines for them to do business, alliances of trade and commerce."

I can understand it if Mr. Duterte doesn't want The Philippines to me America's puppy anymore. But it doesn't make sense to severe ties with an allied nation, with a long history of friendship and cooperation, just to be China's puppy. Its sad.

^Every time he shoots his mouth off, just wait 48 hours for the government spokesmen to pop up and explain that he really didn't mean that, that he was quoted incorrectly by the press, that he never said it at all.......It's a running joke here. Bluster. Deny. Blame the press.

The Philippines' recently elected president, Rodrigo Duterte, has welcomed a comparison of his role in the war on drugs to Adolf Hitler. The German government has called his comments "unacceptable."

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte continued his course of brash public statements on Friday, when he likened his crusade against drug dealers and addicts to the Holocaust.
Speaking to a press conference in his hometown of Davao, the president said he would be "happy to slaughter" the country's 3 million drug users.
At first, Duterte seemed perturbed that the media portrayed him as a "cousin of Hitler" due to his bloody anti-drug campaign without investigating the breadth of the problem.
He appeared to quickly change tack, however, and welcomed the comparison. "Hitler massacred 3 million Jews ... there's 3 million drug addicts. There are. I'd be happy to slaughter them," Duterte said, seemingly unaware that nearly 6 million Jewish people were killed by the Third Reich.
"At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have…" he added, pointing to himself. He added the caveat that while Hitler's victims had been innocent, his were not.
Since taking office at the end of June, Duterte's war on drugs has claimed the lives of 1,247 suspects. The president has refused to back down or apologize for his violent policies, saying that scare tactics were necessary to solve the country's trafficking and drug abuse problems.International outrage over comments
The German Foreign Ministry released a statement on Friday after asking the Philippine envoy to "come to the ministry for a discussion on this issue." In the statement, the ministry slammed Duterte's remarks, calling them "unacceptable."
"It is impossible to make any comparison to the unique atrocities of the Holocaust," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schäfer in Berlin.
The World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder likewise labeled the Philippine leader's comments as "revolting," calling on him to apologize.
"Drug abuse is a serious issue. But what President Duterte said is not only profoundly inhumane, but it demonstrates an appalling disrespect for human life that is truly heartbreaking for the democratically elected leader of a great country," Lauder said in a statement issued from Jerusalem, where he was attending former Israeli leader Shimon Peres' funeral.
The Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch, Phil Robertson, remarked it was baffling that someone would compare themselves to "one of the largest mass murderers in human history."
After just a few short months in power, Duterte has already become famous around the world for his inflammatory rhetoric - famously calling US President Barack Obama 'a son of a whore' - though he later distanced himself from that comment. On Friday, however, he added more fuel to the fire by calling his critics in the European Union a "group of idiots in the purest form."

The Philippines hasn't been an American colony for 70 years. There have been no US bases, or military presence, here for 25 years...other than a small group of counterinsurgency advisors in Mindanao at the request of the Philippine government.

He is right saying that the US and its EU puppy dogs are hypocritical in complaining about his human rights record while they are bombing other countries and killing no one knows how many people.

His war on drugs would seem to be scaring the crap out of a lot of dealers and addicts who are turning themselves in rather than risk death:

So, the fact that the west bombs the likes of ISIS, who have been gassing and torturing their own people or throwing them off bridges and blowing up others with rockets, means it's ok to kill your own innocent civilians without any sort of trial?

The Philippines hasn't been an American colony for 70 years. There have been no US bases, or military presence, here for 25 years...other than a small group of counterinsurgency advisors in Mindanao at the request of the Philippine government.

It would seem that they have now or soon will have after an agreement was reached in January this year :

The Philippines hasn't been an American colony for 70 years. There have been no US bases, or military presence, here for 25 years...other than a small group of counterinsurgency advisors in Mindanao at the request of the Philippine government.

It would seem that they have now or soon will have after an agreement was reached in January this year :

I took the time to read both articles mentioned above and if the headlines were taken at face value, then it would be easy to be deceived because the body of the article reveals completely different facts.

The first article is from January of this year and mainly centres around a Court decision.

quoting and remembering that this is simply an offer ...

Military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said the facilities would be used to store equipment and supplies.He added that the offer had still to be finalized after the Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 10-year security accord.The decision allows for the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement (EDCA), signed in 2014 but not implemented due to legal challenges from groups opposed to US military involvement in the Philippines, ...

Later in the same article ...

Referring to EDCA ... The new pact does not authorize a return of US bases. ...

From the second article, quoting ...

The initiatives are designed so that the United States does not increase its permanent footprint in its former colony, but they demonstrate that the two countries are increasing security cooperation amid joint concerns over China's actions in the region's disputed waterways.

My take on that is that there will be an increased presence of US Forces within the Philippines, but most likely that will be achieved through a 'Naval presence', rather 'troops on the ground'.

That said, it would make sense to have the Navy re-provisioned from the Philippines and possibly the opportunity for shore leave.

My take on that is that there will be an increased presence of US Forces within the Philippines, but most likely that will be achieved through a 'Naval presence', rather 'troops on the ground'.

That said, it would make sense to have the Navy re-provisioned from the Philippines and possibly the opportunity for shore leave.

From a military viewpoint, the naval presence makes sense. It would also make sense to have pre-positioned military stores insitu, to enable rapid deployment of ground and air forces should the need arise.
Most equipment can be maintained by a local civilian cadre, and tested insitu every few years. Shelf life items such as batteries and munitions can be turned over periodically, or used by the host nation where equipment commonality exists.